


Cat Eyes

by BastardPrince



Category: The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Magnus Bane's Cat Eyes, Raphael is a Little Shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-15 19:27:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18079496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BastardPrince/pseuds/BastardPrince
Summary: A series of shorts based on Magnus Bane’s most famous warlock mark: his cat eyes. Even though he’s not actually a cat, his eyes must work in the same way, right?Even if they don’t, this was fun to think about and fun to write.---Based heavily on my own real-life cats (who are little gremlins).





	1. Too Bright

It’s super late when Alec gets to Magnus’s apartment. Tonight’s mission took way longer than expected, and even once it was over Alec still had to return to the Institute for a quick debrief with the others and to drop off some of his bulkier gear. 

He stops inside the door to unlace his boots and pull them off his feet. They’re splashed with mud and some other suspiciously slimy substances. Alec sighs. He should wash them soon. 

He’s starving, so Alec decides to head into the kitchen before getting into bed. He knows that Catarina Loss had come over that evening, but the apartment is quiet so she must have left. Alec assumes Magnus is in bed already, he had texted him earlier to let him know not to wait up. 

Alec flicks the kitchen light on and pours himself a glass of water from the faucet. He drinks half of it in one swig and then opens the fridge. There’s a pan of lasagna sitting on the middle shelf, so Alec helps himself to a slice. 

He sits down to eat without bothering to heat the lasagna up. Cold food doesn’t bother him that much. He's is almost done eating when Magnus walks in, rubbing his eyes and yawning. His dark hair is sticking up in every direction, his dark blue silk robe tied loosely around his waist. Its ornate gold stitching glitters in the light. 

“How was your mission?” Magnus yawns again. 

“Not bad.” Alec shrugs. “It took too long, though.”

He eats his last bite of lasagna and studies Magnus’s face as he chews. The warlock is leaning against the doorframe and squinting. Magnus has grown comfortable with letting his cat eyes show around Alec, and from what Alec can see, Magnus’s pupils have shrunk into thin black lines against the light. 

Alec’s lips quirk up in a small smile. 

“Your pupils are tiny right now.”

“It’s bright in here. Are you done eating? I want to go back to bed.”

“Yeah.” Alec gets up to put his plate in the sink. “It was good. Did Catarina bring it?”

Magnus hums in assent. When Alec turns back around, he sees that Magnus’s eyes are closed. Alec smiles again and moves towards him, switching off the kitchen light as he goes. 

Together the men make their way through the dark apartment, Magnus leaning heavily on Alec’s shoulder. When they get to the bedroom, Alec gets ready for bed and then climbs in after Magnus. Alec is exhausted from his mission and Magnus is warm against him, so he falls asleep quickly.


	2. Dark Shadows

Magnus Bane is stumped. He has been researching a curse for some of the local fey for hours now. His back aches from being hunched over dusty tomes of archaic hexes and antidotes. 

Magnus needs a break. He stretches, twisting his back until it cracks. 

Looking around, the warlock realizes that his study is significantly darker than it was when he first came in. The sun must have set without him realizing. 

His eyes feel bleary, so Magnus heads to the washroom to freshen up. He should feed Chairman Meow while he’s up. Right on cue, the cat strolls into Magnus’s field of vision, meowing plaintively. Magnus looks at the Chairman suspiciously. 

“Are you sure you can’t read my mind?”

Chairman Meow sits down and blinks innocently. Magnus isn’t convinced. 

Standing in front of the sink in the washroom, Magnus splashes cold water over his face. He feels better immediately. The Chairman is making impatient noises in the hallway, but Magnus take a moment to stare at himself in the mirror. After spending so long working in the dark, his pupils are blown-out, the yellow of his cat eyes almost completely covered. 

Excellent night vision is a perk of his particular warlock mark.

The feeling of Chairman Meow butting his head against his calf reminds Magnus of what he was doing. He looks away from the mirror and steps out into the hall. Feeling foolish for walking around in the dark, Magnus switches on the hallway light. 

The Chairman has already sauntered into the kitchen and when Magnus looks into the dark room, he can see the cat’s eyes reflecting the hallway light. Chairman Meow’s pupils are glowing green circles floating above his empty dish. The cat meows at Magnus from the darkness. 

Magnus smiles to himself and continues into the kitchen. As he pours a scoop of kibble into Chairman Meow’s dish, he thinks about his own eyes. He knows they glow in the dark in the same way as the Chairman’s. 

Over his lifetime, Magnus has only trusted a handful of Shadowhunters enough to let them see his cat eyes. Among Downworlders, his eyes are some of the least shocking physical characteristics, but they have always reminded Shadowhunters of his otherness, so he tends to disguise them.

Even after knowing what Magnus’s true eyes _looked_ like, all the Shadowhunters that he had trusted were still surprised when they found out that his eyes also _acted_ like cat eyes. He still remembers when he had scared the living daylights out of Will Herondale one night long ago. 

The memory makes Magnus smile. Will Herondale had been such a troubled boy. Magnus had helped him overcome a false curse, and Will had gone on to have one of the few happy endings that Magnus had witnessed in the Shadowhunter world. 

_False curse_. Something from the case he had been working on earlier clicks into place. Suddenly Magnus knows what has been plaguing the local fey and he dashes back to his study to find the remedy.


	3. Chagrined

“Do you gentlemen plan to insult me all afternoon, or can we do our jobs?”

Undeterred, Raphael Santiago and Ragnor Fell continue to murmur to each other before snickering in Magnus’s direction. Magnus arches an eyebrow, unamused.

He had hesitated to ask Ragnor and Raphael to help him with his most recent job. Magnus knows that the two of them are a match made in hell. But he needed advice, so the warlock had conceded and invited the two men to his apartment. He regretted his decision almost immediately. 

Magnus had made an effort for them. He was wearing a new suit that was a tasteful shade of saffron yellow. And these two cretins would not stop _laughing_. 

He distinctly heard Raphael whisper the word “banana” and Ragnor sniggered again. 

Magnus taps his fingers, unimpressed. Annoyance has caused the pupils of his cat eyes to narrow into thin slits. 

“Your disrespect is astounding. This is an incredibly fashionable suit.”

Ragnor and Raphael continue to ignore Magnus. 

“Perhaps I’ll just leave, then. Does that work for you?”

No answer. 

Magnus glares at the pair who are still preoccupied with insulting him. He refuses to regret wearing this suit. 

He should have known better than to work with these two.


	4. Electrified

Alec’s feet are firmly planted on a dining room chair, arms stretched up above his head. He’s in the middle of Magnus’s living room with a screwdriver in hand, attempting to change a ceiling light fixture. 

Thus far, he has succeeded in removing the old light, but the new one is proving difficult to install. 

The screw Alec had been trying to maneuver slips out of his hand and falls to the floor. 

“Shit.”

Hearing Alec swear, Magnus looks up from his research. He sees the screw on the ground and flicks his fingers in its direction, a flurry of blue sparks lifting the screw up to Alec’s hand. Alec catches it deftly.

“Are you sure I shouldn’t call someone to do this?” Magnus asks. “You don’t need to prove anything to me, you know.”

Alec grunts. “I can do it.”

Magnus doesn’t argue. He believes Alec when he says that he can do it. The Shadowhunter is so stubborn that he won’t give up until he’s finished the job. Anyways, Magnus is thoroughly enjoying the view. 

Alec’s t-shirt is riding up to reveal a couple inches of pale skin, the shadows of used up Marks lingering on its surface. A line of dark hair disappears into the waistband of Alec’s black jeans. Drawing his gaze upwards, Magnus can see Alec’s biceps flexing as he works. 

Despite Alec’s careful positioning, the base of the light slips out of the bracket that’s affixed to the ceiling. 

“Fuck! Just stay put, already.”

He knows that Alec is swearing because he’s frustrated, but Magnus can’t help but find it alluring. Since Alec is normally so reserved, Magnus is beguiled by any display of emotion. 

Magnus smiles to himself when he hears Alec muttering under his breath. The warlock heads into the living room to watch Alec work. His brow is furrowed in concentration, lips slightly parted. 

Alec gives the screw a final twist before cautiously removing his hands from the light. It says put. 

“Ha!” Alec crows, a triumphant grin splitting across his face. 

He looks down at Magnus, who extends a hand to help Alec down off the chair. Alec is still beaming as he stands on the floor with Magnus. The warlock is feeling slightly overwhelmed by Alec’s good mood and sparkling eyes. Visions of Alec working shatter any coherent thoughts. 

“Your pupils are so big!” Alec says, surprised. “It’s not even dark in here.”

“What can I say? I like what I see.” Magnus waggles his eyebrows suggestively.

A light blush dusts the tops of Alec’s cheeks, and Magnus takes advantage of the moment to press his lips against Alec’s. 

When he pulls away, Alec is slightly breathless and still blushing. He looks at Magnus insistently. 

“You know I love your eyes, right?”

Now it’s Magnus’s turn to blush. 

“No, seriously,” Alec continues. “I love your eyes. Thank you for trusting me enough to let me see them.”

For the first time in a long time, Magnus isn’t ashamed of his warlock mark. When Alec leans in to kiss in to kiss Magnus this time, Magnus’s pupils dilate even further so that only a sliver of iris shows. 

A moment later, Magnus Bane closes his eyes and lets himself forget everything but Alec.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was considering expanding this into a 5+1 series, but I decided to cut it off here so that there's a happy ending. I guess I'm feeling sentimental. 
> 
> If you're curious about the sad ending, let me leave you with this fun fact: it is quite common for your pupils to dilate when you die.


End file.
